I agree with the title’s pun, but not its implied meaning. Whilst porn was the most obvious first application of this technology (the same goes for many technologies!), this looks like a decent way to erode the power of surveillance, especially the rampant spread of CCTV like here in the UK.

The article’s right that society will need to adjust to this new technology, but porn is just the tip of the iceberg. It won’t be long before we see fake videos of politicians and other high-profile figures in compromising situations; e.g. a clandestine lunch between Trump and Putin. At the extreme end, I’m sure the creators of “fake news” clickbait can’t wait to face-swap Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump on to e.g. ISIS beheading videos (either way around!). Imagine if those spreading the Obama “birther” conspiracy could convincingly face-swap Obama on to some footage of an African tribal ritual. The possibilities are endless.

As soon as these things start to surface, the powers-that-be will have no option than to spread the message that video footage can’t be trusted, at least without provenance/chain-of-custody information. With time, hopefully this will undermine the credibility of state and private monitoring infrastructure.

For example, most CCTV in the UK is privately operated. I can imagine operators splicing particular faces on to footage of criminal acts, for extortion/revenge/whatever. There’s also the possibility of faking/re-using crime footage, to defraud insurance firms; however, it’s probably still easier to physically act it out, rather than simulate the footage.

Great comment and insight. On the flip side this also explodes the market for technology of certified video/photo. Checksums/signs/watermarks/etc can be added to original videos for cross reference and falsified videos debunked. For things like surveillance/CCTV there will need to be verifiable hardware/firmware for investigation when under scrutiny.

I’d agree that Motherboard and other Vice publications are usually sensationalistic, but this article in particular compiles information that can’t be found elsewhere, including an interview with the involved parties. But I agree also that this is “pop tech news” and HN is a better space for it. There could be some tag for articles like it and a corresponding hotness tweak, but maybe it’s better as an unwritten rule here.